CHECK THIS OUT!

Too bad the FIWAR doesn't include some black powder shooting stations!

Sounds like a great way to spend a day.

JG

Preparations for the FIWAR

As some of you may be aware, TRWS isn't competing in the Frigid Infliction Winter Adventure Race this year. There are several reasons for this, but one primary reason is that for some reason those crazy guys at GMARA asked us to help plan the race course!! We couldn't pass that up, so for that past several months I have been spending most of my free time wandering the woods of Bolton looking for "that perfect CP". And to tell you the truth, it's been a heck of a lot of fun. I am getting to know the Bolton Valley area quite intimately, and there are some real cool spots out there. And, while I can't give away any secrets on this year's race course, I can say it will be crazy cool, and folks will be skiing, snowshoeing, and postholing across some great terrain. For you out of state folks, while it may seem like there isn't much snowout there, there is still plenty up in them mountains!!!

So, if you haven't registered for the FIWAR yet, you better get on the ball!!! The race is filling up fast, and with up to 40 teams, it promises to be an awesome race. Over the next couple of weeks I will try to post some tips for first time racers. I know I was quite apprehensive last year before the race, and could have used some good sound advice. TRWS looks forward to meeting a bunch of folks at race checkin on Feb 29th!!!

Grambo

This reminds me, we need to plan our annual trip to Tuckerman Ravine! (See #8)

JG

World’s 10 Most Dangerous Mountains for ClimbingCourtesy of mensvogue.com

#1. ANNAPURNA, Central Nepal (26,545 ft.) On this mountain, the 10th highest in the world, about 130 climbers have summited the avalanche-prone peak, but 53 have died trying—making Annapurna’s fatality rate of 41% the highest in the world.

#2. NANGA PARBAT, Kashmir (26,657 ft.) Known affectionately as the Man Eater, this craggy monster in Kashmir is an enormous ridge of rock and ice. The peak is the ninth highest in the world and its southern side features the tallest mountain face on the planet. Nanga Parbat claimed 31 lives before it was conquered by Austrian Herman Buhl in 1953.

#3. SIULA GRANDE, Peruvian Andes (20,814 ft.) In 1985, the duo of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, whose journey was chronicled in the book and film Touching the Void, attempted the western face of Siula Grande: a sheer, vertical ascent that had never been completed. They made it to the summit but Simpson fell during the descent, breaking his leg. Then Yates, lowering the injured Simpson down by rope, lost sight of him over a cliff. After an hour passed, with his position slipping away, and Simpson unable to secure himself, Yates cut the rope. Incredibly, Simpson survived the 100 ft. fall into a crevasse. Over the next three days he subsisted on melted snow and hopped the five miles back to camp, arriving shortly before Yates, assuming Simpson had perished, was due to depart for home.

#4. K2, border of Pakistan and China (28,251 ft.) The second highest mountain in the world, this peak has a nasty reputation, especially when it comes to female climbers. The first woman to reach the summit was the legendary Polish climber Wanda Rutkiewicz, who got to the top in June 1986. Over the next 18 years all five female climbers who summited this peak were killed. Three died during the descent down K2, two others on nearby mountains. Rutkiewicz also perished close by, on Kangchenjunga in 1992. The curse was finally broken in 2004 by Edurne Pasaban, a 31-year-old Spanish mountaineer, who remains alive to this day.

#5. KANGCHENJUNGA, border between India and Nepal (28,169 ft.) In 1999, a new James Bond novel found the uber-agent trekking up its dramatic ridges. James may have stopped to admire the gorgeous view, but, as our hero knows well, looks can be deceiving. Avalanches and bitter colds have made this one of the deadliest mountains in the world

#6. THE MATTERHORN, border between Switzerland and Italy (14,691 ft.) These days the principle danger on the Matterhorn is its popularity, with overeager tourists sending loose rocks onto the heads of fellow climbers below.

#7. EVEREST (29,029 ft.), border between Nepal and China With its marquee status, it would be easy to assume that this is the deadliest mountain of them all. But pound for pound, Everest claims a fairly small percentage of climbers (9%), considering the number that attempt it every year.

#8. MT. WASHINGTON (6,288 ft), New Hampshire To experience a killer mountain a little closer to home, look no further than this New Hampshire peak. The rapidly shifting weather, hurricane force winds, and summer ice pellets scouring this slope have claimed more than 100 lives. Temperatures at the peak can descend to -50 degrees Farenheit. In fact, the strongest wind gust ever measured on Earth was recorded on this peak, a gale of 231 mph.

#9. DENALI, Alaska (20,320 ft.) The mountain is prone to earthquakes. And the combination of high altitude and extreme latitude also means altitude sickness kicks in much faster. (At the equator, a peak this size would have about half as much oxygen at the summit than at sea level; because of the latitude, the percentage on Denali is far lower.)

#10. Mt. Fuji, Japan (12,388 ft.) Sometimes you don’t have to be a tall mountain to be a lethal one. Take Mt. Fuji, for example. At its base sits the Sea of Trees, a large expanse of cedar, pine, and boxwood trees that was the only area not overrun by lava and ash during a massive eruption in 1707. This forest, know as Aokigahara, has attained cult status among Japanese as the perfect place to die. Rumors about the woods abound: locals speak of magnetic fields that disorient search and rescue operations; the forest’s population is said to consist of snakes, wild dogs, and the occasional demon.

G.O.A.L.S Releases 2008 Race Calendar

GOALS ADVENTURE RACING WWW.GOALSARA.ORG2008 SCHEDULE
CELEBRATING 5 YRS OF ADVENTURE RACING
COME HANG OUT WITH US!

THE SAVAGE
APRIL 20, 2008Location: Brandywine Creek State Park, DE
Benefits Friends of Brandywine Creek State Park Environmental Group20 MILES/6 HOURS Approximate distances:5 miles of running, trekking, orienteering; 10 miles of mountain biking 5 miles of flat water canoe paddling plus fun team challenges

THE CRADLE OF LIBERTY 24 HR ADVENTURE RACE
USARA National Qualifier / Checkpoint Zero Series ParticipantBenefits Organ Donor AwarenessJUNE 28-29 Location: Jim Thorpe, PA100 MILES/24 HOURS
White water rafting, night mountain biking and orienteering, awesome elevation changes, challenging terrain, waterfalls, and much more!

THE CRADLE OF LIBERTY SPRINT
Benefits Organ Donor AwarenessJUNE 29 Location: Jim Thorpe, PA20 MILES/6 HOURSApproximate distances:5 miles of running, trekking, orienteering; 10 miles of mountain biking 5 miles of flat water canoe paddling plus fun team challenges

KRISTA GRIESACKER MEMORIAL ADVENTURE RACE
USARA National QualifierBenefits Civil Air Patrol Volunteer Search and Rescue Saturday, August 9thLocation: Hamburg, PA50 MILES/12 HOURSOrienteering, mountain biking, river paddling, obstacle course, team challenges, rappelling

THE KRISTA SPRINT
Benefits Civil Air Patrol Volunteer Search and Rescue Saturday, August 9thLocation: Hamburg, PA 20 MILES/6 HOURSApproximate distances:5-7 miles of foot orienteering10-15 miles of mountain bikingteam challenges/obstacle course NO PADDLING IN

SPRINT RACE THE WASCALLY WABBIT TWAIL RUN
September 6, 2008Location: Ridley Creek State Park-Media, PA 5 MILE TRAIL RUN

THE EDGE ADVENTURE RACE
Benefits American Cancer SocietyOCTOBER 19, 2008Location: Coatesville, PA20 Miles/6 HOURSApproximate Distances:5 miles of running, trekking, orienteering;10 miles of mountain biking5 miles of flat water canoe paddling plus fun team challenges

GOALS ARA CHAMPIONSHIP SPRINT RACE
Benefits American Cancer SocietyOCTOBER 19, 2008Location: Coatesville, PA20 Miles/6 HOURSOpen to Coed/3 teams only.Eligible only to teams who have placed in the top 10 in any two 2008 GOALS ARA races.
WWW.GOALSARA.ORG866-338-5167

Tunes Rule...even if they are "anti-intellectual"

So--based on all the other people like me who prefer to listen to some tunes, rather than my snorting and frunting--I sort of figured I wasn't the only one who likes to get down, get down while running or lifting. Now, it turns out, some people way smarter than me have confirmed it.

This from the New York Times: They’re Playing My Song. Time to Work Out.

By STEVEN KURUTZ
Published: January 10, 2008
FITNESS magazines and Web sites love to ask readers about their favorite workout music while presenting their playlists or suggestions from celebrities. Self.com features the “ ’80s cardio playlist,” which includes the short-shorts video classic “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham!

On Fitnessmagazine.com, the singer Rihanna reveals her favorite workout songs — immodestly recommending four of her own for “when you have to pick up the pace on the treadmill.”
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The playlist fixation has a scientific basis: Studies have shown that listening to music during exercise can improve results, both in terms of being a motivator (people exercise longer and more vigorously to music) and as a distraction from negatives like fatigue. But are certain songs more effective than others?

Generally speaking there is a science to choosing an effective exercise soundtrack, said Dr. Costas Karageorghis, an associate professor of sport psychology at Brunel University in England, who has studied the effects of music on physical performance for 20 years. Dr. Karageorghis created the Brunel Music Rating Inventory, a questionnaire that is used to rate the motivational qualities of music in the context of sport and exercise. For nearly a decade, he has been administering the questionnaire to panels representing different demographics, who listen to 90 seconds of a song and rate its motivational qualities for various physical activities.

One of the most important elements, Dr. Karageorghis found, is a song’s tempo, which should be between 120 and 140 beats-per-minute, or B.P.M. That pace coincides with the range of most commercial dance music, and many rock songs are near that range, which leads people to develop “an aesthetic appreciation for that tempo,” he said. It also roughly corresponds to the average person’s heart rate during a routine workout — say, 20 minutes on an elliptical trainer by a person who is more casual exerciser than fitness warrior.

Dr. Karageorghis said “Push It” by Salt-N-Pepa and “Drop It Like It’s Hot” by Snoop Dogg are around that range, as is the dance remix of “Umbrella” by Rihanna (so maybe the pop star was onto something). For a high-intensity workout like a hard run, he suggested Glenn Frey’s “The Heat Is On.”

Music preferences are as idiosyncratic as workout routines, of course. Allison Goldberg, a 39-year-old life coach and amateur runner who lives in Texas and who is training for the Houston Marathon on Sunday, has been running to the Green Day CD “American Idiot” because, she said, “There’s no way you can run slow to Green Day.” (Though she may not be listening on race day; a rule bars runners from using portable music players and headphones.) Haile Gebrselassie, the Olympian from Ethiopia who has won the gold medal at 10,000 meters, often requested that the techno song “Scatman,” which has a B.P.M. of around 135, be played over the sound system during his races.

Ms. Goldberg also includes on her playlist “Don’t Phunk With My Heart” by the Black Eyed Peas (130 B.P.M.), “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers (150 B.P.M.), and “Dancing Queen” by Abba.

The musical style that seems to most reliably contain a high B.P.M. is dance music, said Richard Petty, the founder of Power Music, a company that has produced workout compilations for instructors and fitness enthusiasts for two decades.

“A rock song doesn’t have that same consistency,” said Mr. Petty, a former D.J. who takes a metronomic approach to making exercise music: He chooses a hit song with a catchy melody — say, “Gold Digger” by Kanye West — and produces a remix whose B.P.M. count is tailored to experience level and type of workout.

For a stroll walker going at a pace of around 3 miles an hour, a remixed track has a count of 115 to 118 B.P.M.; for a power walker going 4.5 m.p.h., the count is 137 to 139 B.P.M., while the B.P.M. for a runner elevates to 147 to 160.

The compilations, aimed largely at women doing cardio, with titles like “Shape Walk — 70’s Hits Remixed,” contain no pauses between songs. That unwavering beat allows a person to synchronize their movements to the music, something that Kate Gfeller, a music professor at the University of Iowa, said is crucial.

“Music provides a timing cue,” said Professor Gfeller, who after taking an aerobics class several years ago where the teacher picked music whose tempo didn’t match the moves, was inspired to study the components of music most important to a gainful workout. “It helps you to move more efficiently, which, in turn, can help you with endurance.” (She likes to warm-up for figure skating to the Buena Vista Social Club, in particular the songs “Candela” and “El Cuarto de Tula.”)

In other words, the best workout songs have both a high B.P.M. count and a rhythm to which you can coordinate your movements. This would seem to eliminate any music with abrupt changes in time signature, like free-form jazz or hard-core punk, as well as music that varies widely in intensity, like much of indie rock. It also rules out what the writer and neurologist Oliver Sacks calls “music which doesn’t have adequate rhythmic force.”

“Here, I think of Wagner,” said Dr. Sacks, whose recent book, “Musicophilia,” discusses the link between rhythm and movement. “Nietzsche wrote of what he called Wagner’s ‘degeneration of the sense of rhythm.’ ”

Dr. Sacks is fond of swimming, and said the one-two-three cadence of his strokes often leads him to play a waltz in his mind. “Neurologically, it makes no difference if you’re listening to music or imagining it,” he said. “Vivid imagining activates motor parts.”

Much of the research done on music and exercise is geared toward aerobic workouts like jogging and cardio. But as anyone who has heard Metallica blasting from a weight room stereo knows, music is a motivator in strength training, too. “The vast majority of bodybuilders are fans of heavy metal, if not in their personal life at least in the gym,” said Shawn Perine, a senior writer at Flex magazine. Loud, aggressive music, he said, “keeps you elevated, especially in between sets.”

Mr. Perine prefers to work out to hip-hop. “Let’s say you’ve done a grueling set of squats,” he said. “You’re out of breath, and L. L. Cool J’s ‘Mama Said Knock You Out’ comes on. Your energy won’t flag.”

But is there a perfect workout track, a song that transcends exercise forms and personal preferences? One comes up repeatedly: “Gonna Fly Now,” the theme from “Rocky.” In a forthcoming book on music and sport that he contributed to, Dr. Karageorghis writes that the song “evokes a state of optimism and excitement in the listener,” and Ms. Goldberg said it helped her get through her first marathon. The band from Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn has set up along the New York City Marathon route and performed the “Rocky” theme for runners each race day for the last 30 years.

Bill Conti, the song’s composer, shed light on why it continues to motivate. "I put a Da-Da! in the beginning,” Mr. Conti said. “any kind of Da-Da! gets your attention. Then it goes into a tune we’ve heard played so weepily throughout the movie, but now I put a beat behind it and put it in a major key.” When Rocky runs up the museum steps, musically, Mr. Conti said, “I am milking it as much as I can.”

Still, Mr. Conti is reluctant to overanalyze it. “Music is anti-intellectual,” he said. “We know the Greeks went into battle listening to music in the Dorian mode. I can only imagine some Greek guy said, ‘This works.’ ”

Get Your Motor Runnin'

Ran 5 tonight and was very sore from the Sufer-O-Rama. Man, the first week back is brutal. So it goes, I guess.

Rewarded myself with some McKenzie Kielbasa, a half-a-block of Cabot Pepper Jack and Ritz crackers. And I'm about to top it off with a frosty malt beverage.

Jealous?

Should be.

It was delicious.

A little quality time with Coach Troy

Went back to the gym this morning. Finding the motivation was a little easier than the last time--but not much.

After about 35-40 minutes of weights, I hit the bike for some of Coach Troy's Suffer-O-Rama. It's described in the marketing collateral this way: "Spinervals 3.0 - Suffer-o-Rama, will teach you how to suffer on the bike with 45 minutes of explosive power sprints and highly anaerobic sets. Brutal, but effective!"

Brutal, indeed. Especially when you haven't been at the gym for a few months.

Back tomorrow for some QT on the treadmill.

Weekend Update

You'd think that with all the rain and warm weather we've had that the snow would be gone. But, no. It's still here, and there's still quite a bit of it.

This morning, I took the little one for a hike and briefly contemplated not using my snowshoes. After thinking about it for a minute, I decided I would take them--I'm glad I did! Turns out there's still a good 12" of snow in the woods out behind our house, and in many places it's deeper. A few times I would break through the crust up to my thighs. Definitely needed the shoes.

It was a great morning to get out. Partly sunny, about 36 degrees. We hike for about 90 minutes, found a new deer blind (the second within a mile or two of our house) and lots and lots of White Tail tracks--great way to spend a Saturday morning.

I went to the gym for the first time in awhile last night. Ran a little over 3.5 miles and did some weights and stretching. Felt good. Time to get that training thing going again.

Looking forward to Monday's snow!

JG

I don't have much time to write today(and haven't, clearly, as you can see from the lack of posts), but I wanted to put up a picture Biz took of me while we were out exploring the terrain up at Bolton back in the fall, and also scouting for potential routes for the upcoming Frigid Infliction. We found some cool areas, including the one seen in this picture. Imagine racing through terrain like this, only covered by 3-6 feet of snow!!! I am working on part of the course design this year, and while I will not divulge any information, I can say that it's going to be an awesome course, and the terrain is GREAT!!!! The more time I spend in the woods in the Bolton Valley area the more I love it...

Grambo

Where to begin...

Perhaps with an apology for being such slackers, because as you can see there's was a bit of a blackout here at http://www.teamrunswithscissors.com/

Well, the blackout is over and power is restored--at least to the point of a dimwitted glow.

We've enjoyed some great times since the lights last went out and, well, I'm not going to bother to try to recount them all. Mostly because I know you're not really interested.

Looking forward into 2008, there are some very interesting things on the horizon, including the fast approaching Frigid Infliction Winter Adventure Race (FIWAR) on March 1, 2008. If you haven't done this race before, you should--it's great!

We're contemplating what, and how much, racing we'll be doing this year with the limited time we all have available. Let us know if you have some suggestions.

So (cue the music), let the '08 games begin.

TRWS

Where The?

The blackout is over!

Happy New Year.

Team Runs with Scissors